author · creator · seeker · old soul

Canals and trees and benches

Andre Tacnet and his wife Joelle own a lovely gite in a tiny village at the southern border of the Cote d’Or in Burgundy. We stayed there two years ago and have kept in touch. So this trip, as we were not far from him, we met him for lunch.

He’s a fascinating man, full of joy and good cheer, and the owner of a particularly well-stocked cave from which he offered us tastings in 2017 of some of his favourite wines. But I digress.

We met him in a tiny village (no, not all French villages are tiny) in the Morvan Forest in Burgundy, and as we chatted over some very fresh trout and of course, local wines, he insisted on giving us some pointers, places we must, he said, visit on this trip.

Briare was one such place. Without his insistence, we’d never have gone there. I mean, France is full of wonderful places to visit, but we’d decided many trips ago that you just can’t see them all.

France’s network of canals, once used to transport goods, is now used more for pleasure: motor boats for hire, longboats for leisurely motoring from village to village, tour boats. In the late 1800s, that transport network needed a connection over the Loire River because navigating across it was difficult.

Mssrs Mazoyer and Sigault were called to design an aqueduct high above the river, and Gustave Eiffel was hired, (yes, that Eiffel) to design the abutments and piers, and in 1896 the Pont Canal was completed. 662 meters long, 11.5 meters wide, the steel channel of water (13,000 tons of it!) sits atop a single steel beam supported by Eiffel’s brilliant engineering of the supports. Until 2003 it was the longest navigable aqueduct in the world.

This is Wayne exploring the Pont Canal. This is how he walks most of the time, hands clasped behind his back.

And this is 17 month old Brody, who apparently walks everywhere now just like his Grampa. Just not in France yet. But again, I digress.

This little grove of trees stands beside one of the canals that criss-crosses Briare. I love the bumps, and how the branches reach out and up, like they all got together and decided to choreograph their existence. But why no buds? No green? It’s spring. Shouldn’t leaves be growing out of those arms? Will they come? How will Briarians find shade alongside the canal? Deep questions, I know.

And then there’s this chap, as my grandmother would say, hanging out with a bunch of buddies alongside the canal, oddball shapes and sizes of decorated cement, all grouped quite artistically, if you please. He was the only chap standing. Apparently the others were just down for their nap.

My friend Mary Ness photographs benches, then posts them on Facebook. We both think an empty bench has such potential. Who sat there last? Who will be next? What are their stories? And does the bench like to be alone? or does it enjoy the company when sat upon? So naturally I photographed these for Mary.

And it being France, and the sun being overhead, oh and there being bistro tables and chairs calling us, we ended our little tour of Briare in the town square, toasting our good friend Andre with glasses of the local rose for his wise travel recommendations.

Adieu!

Linda